Wavering Predator
by joanamidena
Summary: Loki is banished and the Avengers are reunited. While one struggles to outlive his punishment, the others slowly tie bonds of friendship. But while this happens, a shadow shall surge - will their forces merge? / Set Post-Avengers - LokixOC, slightly Pepperoni and Clintasha.
1. Chapter 1: In Which All Starts

**So, hello everyone, I'm Joana. Ah, this is my first Avengers piece of fanfiction – I saw the movie and it kind of made me think about many ideas for plot.**

**The summary was very bad, therefore I feel like explaining a bit: this is set post-Avengers. We'll have Avengers-reunited scenes and peeks on Loki's situation. I tried to make it interesting and plausible. I'm very sorry if anything turns out OOC. Reviews and nicely-written critique are always welcome. **

**Flamers will be adopted by my family. **

**Thank you for reading!**

**-xox-xox-**

"So, Thor, what happened to that psycho-brother of yours?"

That was Tony Stark, mindful and gentle as always. Of course, it was not that Loki had warmed his way into the hearts of the others, but every Avenger knew how the God of Thunder was sensitive to the subject, and had been treating the matter with a tactful silence. Since Thor had come back from Asgard claiming his brother had been punished, no one pressed him further - this rule being broken by the return of Iron Man to the house, for it did appear that the man found it highly amusing that the Norse god still cared for his brother after everything he had done.

Thor looked only mildly annoyed at such a blunt approach, stating in his powerful voice:

"He has been punished, as I already told you, Man of Iron."

"Yeah, yeah" answered Stark, dismissively waving his hand and ignoring the meaningful looks that his companions gave him. "But what was his punishment?"

"Oh" the blond man sighed, showing very clearly his unwillingness to answer. "He was banished to Midgard, his power was taken from him - and, of course, I have been told that those brave warriors—what's their name?—ah, the S.H.I.E.L.D. people send someone to watch over him, in case he causes any kind of trouble, which I find highly unlikely."

"Wait, he is here?" said Steve, looking up, for the first time taking part in the conversation. He had been, with all the others, trying to ignore Stark's behavior by focusing on his food, but now he seemed alarmed, for his duty had been awaken. "Here on Earth?"

"Yes, Captain of America, he is here, though I must reassure all of you that he is no threat anymore. Odin, Father of All has _taken_ his powers of illusion and magic."

"Well, that's a relief." murmured Clint Barton, low enough so only Natasha Romanoff could hear him, and she rose her eyebrows slightly, allowing her lips to twitch as to show her amusement.

"How do we know that this S.H.I.E.L.D. person won't believe his lies and help him somehow?" stated Tony, showing a very unexpected rationality for a man who spent most of his time worshipping his own ego. "I mean, the guy is nuts, but he surely can talk."

"Do you know who they sent to control him, Thor?" asked the Black Widow, looking only mildly interested in the conversation. She only wanted to assure that no one was actually going to enslave her partner again and go around telling him to kill people, like Loki had done not long before – if the demigod was actually being punished, he was her business no longer.

"Ah…" Thor thought for a very long moment before replying. "Someone named Clemens, or something."

"Heard about." said Clint, noticing how Natasha seemed to be trying to figure out if she knew someone with that name – she was only a remembering-names-person when it came to potential targets. "It's somewhat of a freelancer – I myself saw some prisoners coming back after being with Clemens: they were like little trained puppies."

Romanoff scoffed at that notion, but Hawkeye ignored her, continuing:

"I think everything is settled then."

"Yeah, but what if?" insisted Tony, looking at his companions in mocking disbelief. "I man, there is no prisoner like him. Don't you think this is probable, Thor? You know how that brother of yours is."

The God of Thunder now looked positively weary of the subject, starting to slowly move away.

"Nick Fury assured me they had someone to take care of the matter, and I have no reason to doubt him on his choice. Now, excuse me, I shall get some food - I believe I saw those delicious Poptarts in the kitchen."

As he left, Stark looked back to his fellow companions with a knowingly look.

"Very nice way to end an argument." he declared.

**-xox-xox-**

At the same time, somewhere in the middle of England, Loki stared at the place it would serve as his prison: an old house, that an architect could describe as from the Regency era, because of its large windows and somewhat squared structure, which was surrounded by a well-kept garden. The powerless, unruly demigod had not much time to appreciate it, for Nick Fury, who had personally come to watch him being locked up and who was standing by the door, soon pointed the away inside, telling him that he could be going in. Banned and powerless, Loki didn't have a choice, though he felt cross for being told what to do by someone who was, from his point of view, so much below him. He then walked into the house, taking notice of the hall and stairs - all was furnished neatly, but, compared to Asgard, there was impossible not to think all of it dull - before deciding to walk into the first room he saw.

He entered what could be called a drawing room, which at first appeared to be just as empty as the rest of the house. But on a second look he caught sight of a woman sitting on a cushion that was set nicely by the window. She was reading a book, and her face was thereby hard to see, but her hair was of a dark brown and combed in some sort of braid-bun, and, as her figure did not move to his entrance, he slowly took a few steps. He was about five feet from her when she looked up.

"You must be Loki." her tone was unsurprised, so the God of Mischief could perceive that she was expecting him.

"That I am, mortal. " he replied.

"I am Sophia Clemens." she continued swiftly, obviously noticing how unwillingly he was to carry on with the conversation.

Loki could see her clearly now – she was not very different from any other human he had seen during his stay on Midgard. Young, thin, seemingly softspoken and not at all threatening. Clemens. If that was the agent chosen to look after him, to make sure he would not make any mischief… Well, assuming that was the case, Loki couldn't suppress his vicious grin while commenting:

"I thought they would send someone stronger to watch over a demigod like me. Are they fools?"

Sophia did not seem annoyed – in fact, she beamed at him, brightening up at the sight of his proud expression.

"Oh, I am very fit to look after you, Mister Loki, you shouldn't worry."

Was it only his impression or there was mockery in her tone?

She stood up, revealing that her light blue dress was simple, and, more, that she didn't seem to be hiding any weapons. Holding her book with her left hand, she outstretched her right hand.

"A pleasure to meet you."

Yes, she was surely mocking him. Loki did not shake hands with her, staring at her with a disbelieving and disgusted expression that no one could ever find amicable. That didn't seem to trouble her as well, for she only pursued her lips and went back on holding the book with her right hand.

"Seems like I'll also have to teach you earthly-manners." she said, smiling composedly for a while before turning serious and all calmly-looking again. "Now, for the rules. They are very simple, so I don't think you'll have any problem in memorizing them. One, you cannot leave the house without express authorization from Fury or me. Two, you cannot lure people in the house in order to escape. Three, you cannot communicate with anyone from outside without the already mentioned authorization. Oh, four, you cannot try to use human technology to contact people too. Is that clear?"

"Why do you think I should follow those rules?" Loki retorted, growing even more peeved – maybe he could frighten her a bit, pretending to go for her throat. Clearly this woman had no sense of whom she was dealing with. Or maybe she was deranged. That would account for her smiling, and, of course, for trying to control a god.

"Well, I must say I expected you to say that." with that she sighed, shaking her head slightly before adding:

"First of all, it is very unlikely you will be able to leave the house on your own, because the system requires me to perform a series of actions- actions I must perform alive and conscious, not to mention voluntarily. As to call or contacting someone to help, you must have noticed that we're pretty much in an isolated area. Human technology is easy, I know you to be exceedingly smart, but in order to hack into my system you would have to learn a very great deal."

Noticing his expression, she paused only for a moment before saying, shrugging a bit:

"I wouldn't recommend killing me either, there are many ways for S.H.I.E.L.D. to notice my absence."

Before Loki could reply, and, oh, he had a lot to reply to her (for example, telling her he would go for her throat anyway), the austere, eye-patched leader of the organization walked in.

"I see you meet Miss Clemens. Very good." he then turned to her, apparently ignoring the very resentful expression Loki was now wearing. "Are you in need of assistance?"

"Oh, no.' she replied, apparently amusing herself. "I think I've got everything under control.

Now, Loki was actually considering going for her throat.

**-xox-xox-**

**Reviews are love.**


	2. Chapter 2: In Which an Idea Rises

**Holidays are here! I can update and be happy and go fangirling about. **

**Chapter 3 will be up on Friday or something. **

**Thank you for reading. **

**-xox-xox-**

_**Chapter 2: In Which an Idea Rises**_

Sophia had been alone most of the day. Loki had turned down her polite invitation of showing him the house and had sat on a cushion, looking cross and pensive. She did not mind him and went about her things very neatly, to finish setting up the house for its new guest – though the demigod was more of an inmate, maybe. Therefore, when the evening came, Sophia felt very happy just to sit down and sew a bit.

But she had barely started when Loki's voice emerged from the corridor, seemingly quite annoyed:

"I did not think Midgardians could be so fool as to think I'd wear this."

She turned to him, seeing the God of Mischief standing in the doorway, holding a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt in disbelief, his features clearly bothered by the small line across his brow. Most of all, he was, as far as she could notice, only with his towel tied around his waist.

_The good thing about demigods_, she said to herself, _is that they're gorgeous._

After all, she had once a very big and very ugly gangster staying with her for a year just a while before. This was a good change.

But she simply replied:

"Really, I don't know the customs of Asgard, but I don't think it is polite for someone to wander around undressed."

And then, turned her attention back to the needles.

"I want my usual clothes." stated Loki. "Not these Midgardian outfits."

"I'm sorry, I don't have them." said the woman, patiently. "I've been informed you would be wearing human clothing."

"Well, I think your information was wrong. Now, if you could fetch me decent clothes..."

"Mister Loki." she put her things aside so she could stand up. "You will have to wear human clothing while you're banished here."

He hissed, staring at her with his frightful eyes for long. She crossed her arms and stared back, her own features set somewhat between annoyance and amusement.

"I should kill you." he growled, stepping towards her in a threatening fashion – but Sophia did not move, not even flinched. "You don't see how weak you are? I'm a god and you, you are a mere human—mortal, fragile, the perfect prey!"

"I am mortal and fragile and I do think you could kill me quite easily." she retorted, raising her hands slightly. "But I did not choose your punishment. Killing me won't really do anything good, perhaps it will even worse the situation."

Loki's face was unreadable, although, in the back of his mind, he knew she spoke the truth. A human woman could be replaced, his punishment would not end because of him killing his guard – his punishment might even be worsened, for he doubted Thor and Odin would understand Clemens' death.

"Fine.", his words were barely audible.

Sophia beamed at him, seeming truly glad at his acceptance.

"I'm glad you understand. Now, if you could dress yourself... Dinner will be ready in half an hour."

With that, she sat again, going back to sewing.

**-xox-**

To compensate for his agreeing with her earlier, Loki was abnormally rude to Sophia later that day, when she called him to dinner. He stated that he was not hungry and that no kind of food she would serve him would satisfy his supreme body – that she should go away and not bother him. Once again, she took his attacks with polite attention and stillness, quietly leaving him alone as soon as he was done with his speech.

It was not until the clock struck midnight that Loki went to eat. Despite being somewhat hungry before, he had chosen to wait, stubbornly, spending much of his time thinking very ill of his guard's behavior, for he was still not growing used to the idea of sharing that house with her. She did not go around him, nor kept looking at him – actually, she did her own, private things and left him alone.

But still.

The kitchen was ready for him, the table settled, plate, glass and silverware – everything was fine, except for the food. It was looking good, as far as human food could look good, it smelled good, as far as human food could smell good, but with was not warm. Actually, it was quite cold. Cold enough to bother him.

There was only one possible solution.

He went to the drawing room down the corridor, entering without knocking (who needs manners when you're a God?). As he expected, Sophia was there, sitting, reading another book, with her usual countenance.

"My food is cold." He stated.

She glanced up at him, blinking once or twice before standing and nodding at him.

"I'll teach you how to use the microwave." she said, while walking with him to the kitchen, in her soft voice. "So you can actually eat whenever you want without depending on me."

He did not reply. It was not that he had any problems with her, for she did not seem to have many of the faults that normally bothered him: she did not meddle, she went about her own things, she did not judge… She was a weird human. Loki was surprised for her calmness, her stillness of temper – she only nodded and smiled. While she taught him how to use the Midgardian technology, she did not patronize him nor tried to lead the way, she just explained, moving her hands with firm but gentle gestures to illustrate her speech.

The banned Asgardian was now making up his mind. Sophia Clemens was, obviously, a kind girl that S.H.I.E.L.D. thought that could soften him up – she was polite and delicate, she kept beaming at him and her behavior was even flattering. He could deal with her. It wouldn't be hard to talk to her, she seemed so eager to listen, so eager to please.

That impression only strengthened when she sat with him by the table. She laid her hands on the surface, tracing slight patterns with her index fingers, while she gazed somewhat distractedly in Loki's direction. Although, when she spoke, it was with her common voice:

"So, would you mind telling me more about you?" she started, giving him one of her absent smiles. "Since, of course, my life here on Earth surely isn't a very entertaining topic."

He let one of his smiles creep up on his face.

"Yes, I can tell you a bit about myself." His reply was full of malice, but her countenance was still open, still interested. So naïve.

And Loki started to lie.

**-xox-xox-**

**Reviews are love.**


	3. Chapter 3: In Which The Demigod Is

**Chapter Three: In Which the Demigod Is Interested**

"I can't believe they did this to you." whispered Sophia, leaning eargerly on the table.

She had been hearing Loki's story until now, her face showing more and more uneasiness as he spoke. The God of Mischief had changed and distorted his narrative – now he was a victim of a series of unfortunate events, including a betrayal that costed his rightful place in the throne. Sophia had been hearing it, her expression slowly changing, her movements becoming more and more tense as her eys widened.

"It must have been so difficult." she said, simpathetically.

Despite nodding silently to this, Loki smirked inside. He was surely getting there, because Clemens was completely taken by his story, by his misfortunes – her eyes were slightly wider, she seemed so affected.

"I guess..." said Loki, glancing aside with a very convincingly bitter expression. "I guess I can't succeed in anything at all."

"Oh, mister Loki, don't say that." Sophia was reassuring him, smiling a bit. "Of course you can... There is no doubt of your power."

"So, would you help me?" it seemed like a plead.

There was a great silence. He knew that she was convinced of his need – she looked shaken, but he could not read her face enough to know what answer she was going to give him. Meanwhile, he watched carefully as she glanced down to her hands, that were resting on the top of the table, her fingers curling up. Then, out of a sudden, Sophia looked at him very fiercily.

"You don't strike me as a fool, mister Loki. I should hope I don't strike you as one, either." Her tone was changed. It was not heated, but did not seem to be soft anymore, there was a stillness in it, a stillness that she had covered for a while.

"I can see through your lies. You thought you could fool me?" she asked, holding up her hands.

"What? How can you—" the shock was clear in very line of Loki's face. How could that woman see the truth? A God of Mischief is a good liar – his lies are undiscoverable, his lies trick people into doing what he wants them to.

"I told you, I'm very good at dealing with difficult people." Sophia stood up too, staring hard at her guest, with a barely visible frown on her face. "You lies reek, mister Loki. Don't take me wrong, you're the best liar I've ever seen – but somewhat, inside, I can still smell them."

He could not answer to that. The option of killing her was there again, for there was no other way that he could make her obey him, that he could make her help him. There was something in her he had not sensed before, and it angried him, because his jugdment had never been wrong.

"You have two options: have me as your enemy, or have me as your ally." her voice rang clear. "Don't try to turn me into your toy."

Loki stayed still as she left.

**-xox-xox-**

The house was silent for three days. Loki had been avoiding to see Clemens after her discovering his little plan to persuade her. During the day, he stayed in the library or in his room, thinking about what options would unfold his path to glory. He wandered about the house, getting familiar to it's space – big and full of rooms, it was decorated and held a many number of curious things, including a lot of computers and human technology, and a small number of musical instruments, as well as many books. Sophia, despite coming and going, talked little to him, recieving only brusque and rather vague answers – there was always this great silence that seemed to be upon them.

Then, on the morning of the fourth day, there was a knock on the door of Loki's room.

"Mister Loki, may I get in?"

He grunted in response. She probably took that as an authorization, because soon she was walking in, carefully, holding a small flower vase that she arranged in his bedside table, murmuring something about 'cheering up the place'. He did not reply to her, staring into nothingness for a very long while.

"Mister Loki." Sophia approached him. "You're angry with me for finding out your intentions."

"I do not worry about petty humans, miss Clemens." his answer was sharp.

"Maybe not, but I daresay you are quite annoyed with me." her reply was quick and calm. "May we talk?"

He turned to face her, expressing his annoyance in such a fierce way that other people might give up. But Sophia only smiled in her queer way, sitting down by him in the edge of the bed.

"Hm, forgive me for stating so bluntly that I was not fooled by you?" started her, tentatively. "I just did not think of a better way."

Despite being still irritated, Loki could not but hold a little curiosity. Seeing through his lies was not a common threat in humans, and he did not know how she could have possibly noticed that his story was built up head to toe. She seemed so harmless.

"How did you know?" his question was very direct, as he rose one eyebrow.

Sophia smile grew a little wider, her reply still apologetic.

"Little things. People have tried to decieve me a few times already, so it's mostly about practice."

"Is this a 'special power'?" asked the demigod, again seemingly annoyed for her lack of an objective answer.

"Oh, no" she blinked rapidly a few times. "No, no... I meant what I said, mister Loki, I'm very human. I think this... Well, my recognition of your lies is simply a natural talent that I have perfectioned."

Being also able to see falsehood and deceit, Loki aprehended her words as true. She didn't seem to be much out of the ordinary – he did not notice any signs of superhuman ability. But, then, she was talking now, and he felt as if he could ask. Despite not bothering much about petty humans, the demigod was bored, bored enough to find Sophia an interesting matter.

"What other special traits do you have?" his voice was only slightly curious. "I noticed that you read a lot."

She laughed softly.

"Indeed I do read, even too much, maybe. The library is at your service too, mister Loki. I've been informed that you are also an intellectual mind."

"That is accurate." He couldn't desguise the pride in his words. "I've always valued knowledge above silly, untoughtful strenght."

"That makes two of us." she nodded to him.

He decided to ignore her emphaty, changing the subject.

"And the instruments?" continued the God of Mischief, recalling the piano and the harp that he had seen in one of the rooms.

"Oh, yes... I play them, slightly." said Sophia, nodding. "Mostly the piano, but I've managed to grasp a bit of the harp as well."

The silence was there again, though not so hostile as before – Loki was now convinced that there was no immediate threat on Sophia, and the woman, with her good nature, seemed to have forgotten his intentions to fool her. Both of them stayed for a while seated, imersed in their own minds and thoughts. It was only after a small lapse of time that Sophia stood, slowly moving to walk out of the room.

"That's all you can do, miss Clemens?" Loki suddenly said, suspiciously. "Nothing else you'd like to share with me?"

She turned back to face him, tilting her head slightly, without letting out any signs of hesitation, though she was, on the inside, not as sure as she let out. He held her gaze, intently, until she gave a small sigh.

"Once, a long time ago, I went through an experiment." Her tone was not angry, it was very clear and calm, not straying from her usual ways.

"Like the soldier?" he retorted.

Oh, no, she was not like Captain America, not even like the Hulk. Her experience did not give her any kind of strenght – so Sophia shook her head, holding up her hands very quickly, as if to emphasize he answer.

"No... It went wrong. I have no special ability, not super-strenght, nor a genious mind." she said, with a small, intimate smile. "I'm not very special, mister Loki. Your abilities are much more interesting than any of mine. Now, if you excuse me, I'll prepare lunch."

Closing the door behind her, the rustling of Sophia's dress faded away. And the demigod was beggining to actually find her interesting.


End file.
